FHFund Releases New Resource for Prioritizing Public Lands for Affordable Housing

The Twin Cities region needs a full-spectrum affordable housing strategy to maintain the quality of life many enjoy and expand housing opportunities for those with low and moderate incomes. Doing more to meet housing needs requires us to think creatively and look for new opportunities to align and maximize the impact of public resources. Surplus, vacant, and underutilized public lands are precious community resources and must be part of the solution. Let’s build on what we already have.

Why focus on public lands?
In strong markets, development on public sites can expand opportunities for affordability in neighborhoods where land costs make it difficult for mission-driven developers to compete for sites. Discounting land costs for affordable housing can make projects more financially feasible and increase their likelihood of completion. In weaker markets, publicly-owned parcels can be used to catalyze development and seed revitalization activities.

What’s new about this approach?
While many public agencies have existing systems in place to redevelop or sell vacant and foreclosed properties for affordable housing, our next-stage opportunity is to assess the larger portfolio of potentially available land in the region, across agencies, and to intentionally prioritize it for affordable housing development wherever appropriate. A coordinated, regional strategy would build on the individual steps that many cities, counties and state agencies are already taking

What can we do?
Many other regions that are facing rising land costs have implemented policies to prioritize surplus or underutilized public lands for affordable housing. They point us to three clear next steps to pursue this strategy:

Inventory: To understand the scale of the opportunity, we first need to inventory the sites available. Very few public agencies in the region have a complete list of their real estate assets, much less an assessment of the viability and potential of their use for affordable housing or other development.

Analyze: Not all available sites are suitable for development. Analyzing sites and categorizing them based upon factors that influence their development potential, including scale, existing use, surrounding uses and neighborhood form and infrastructure needs, among other factors, is important. Working together as a region, we can assess the full picture of opportunity rather than looking one project at a time, or one agency at a time.

Position for success: It is important for agencies to have clear processes and procedures, as well as appropriate staff capacity, to manage an effective asset management process that prioritizes affordable housing. In designing Requests for Proposals and other kinds of solicitations, agencies should focus on smoothing the process for affordable housing developers and providing incentives for affordability.

Ready to get started? Click here to learn more about best practices and read our model ordinance.

By many measures, the Minneapolis-Saint Paul region is a great place to live. The quality of life is high, including ample green space and a vibrant arts scene; it is affordable relative to other cities; and there is a strong job market. Yet, many full time workers cannot find a home that is affordable to them.

In March 2018, the Family Housing Fund published a Request for Qualifications (RFQ) to identify qualified firms to act as Court-appointed administrator or receiver within the context of certain legal actions to protect and preserve low-cost rental housing and the occupancy by residents thereof in the Twin Cities metropolitan region. Through a review of applications and interviews with finalist applicants, an evaluation team identified Twin Cities firms who meet the Minimum Qualifications to perform the required Scope of Services (find full details in the link below). This list may serve as a resource for the Courts, local governments, and other housing stakeholders in the Twin Cities region. Inclusion on the list in no way implies an endorsement of any firm.

Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey campaigned on a promise to address the city’s affordable housing crisis. In May, he announced an ambitious plan to deliver on his campaign promise and yesterday, we saw his plan take shape in his first proposed budget for 2019.

We commend the Mayor for his leadership to dramatically increase funding for affordable housing. His proposed 2019 budget recognizes that we need many tools in our toolbox to combat the housing challenges that many of our city’s residents experience. Mayor Frey’s specific commitments include $40 million of City funds – combined with an additional $10 million of state and federal funds – directed toward affordable housing. This includes: